


Arbitrary Substance

by loveless_klark



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Dom/sub Undertones, F/F, Flirting, Possessive Behavior, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, She just wants a break, The 100 (TV) Season 6, Tired Clarke Griffin, touch-starved clarke griffin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:14:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveless_klark/pseuds/loveless_klark
Summary: A hand covered her mouth, and she could feel someone pressed against her back, breath washing over her ear. Fingers trailed down her side, following the curve of her waist. “Hmm. I don’t think pink is quite your color.”Clarke growled, the sound muffled under her assailant’s hand. “Who are you? Let me go!”“All in good time, sweet girl.”~Season Six AU where Clarke catches Josie's attention and she just can't stay away
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Josephine Lightbourne
Comments: 20
Kudos: 57





	1. ─ ❝ 𝐨𝐧𝐞 ❞ ─

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a little backstory before you read the fic:
> 
> Josephine is alive and in a body before Earthkru came down to Alpha. I never specify if her body is a new one or her old one, that can be up to you, though I like to imagine it's somehow her old body. Don't think too hard about it
> 
> As said in the tags, this heavily leans into dom/sub territory. Even outside of the smut scenes, there's a lot of dom/sub going on between Clarke and Josie. Just be warned of that
> 
> Because the chapters are longer, it'll probably take me a while to get the next one out, and I promise the next chapters will have more plot and less shameless flirting. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, you tell me. But there is an actual plot behind this
> 
> Hope you enjoy ♥

_“I spend a quarter of every day inside you. When you set limits outside of that I can't help but see them as arbitrary.”  
― Sylvia Day, Bared to You_

Clarke wakes up to the face of her mother hovering over her.

She groaned, slowly coming around to being awake, her limbs heavy on the ground. Her neck ached, and reaching up to touch it, she felt just how sensitive it was, knew there must be bruises forming. It took a second for her brain to catch up, but then she remembered. The eclipse. Bellamy going feral. His hands around her neck, choking, Murphy desperately trying to pull him off, the gas-

She coughed, little wisps of said gas coming out of her mouth. Glancing around, Murphy and Bellamy were being woken by others, people who hadn’t been with them before. They must have come down while Clarke was asleep. But their ship. Someone had taken their ship.

Then she noticed the unfamiliar woman standing in the background, hands cuffed in front of her.

Clarke coughed again, voice hoarse as she spoke. “Who is that?”

“...we don’t exactly know,” Abby said, following her gaze. “But she flew the ship back up to Eligius, infiltrated the ship. Her companions were killed in the conflict. She brought us here.”

So that answered the question of what happened to their ship.

“Are you-” Clarke cleared her throat, “are you one of the people who lives here?”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Yes. This is my home. A home you have invaded.”

Clarke swallowed. “I’m sorry. We were just trying to get away from the bugs. We didn’t know we were trespassing.” She pursed her lips. “Besides, you stole our ship.”

The woman snorted. “So I did.” The sound of laughter reached her ears then, and Clarke turned to look at the stairs, everyone else following her. A little girl ran up the steps, laughing joyfully, and gestured at whoever was behind her to follow. A wave of children flooded up, coming around the pond in the middle to stop just away from them. Both groups watched each other warily. The woman stepped forward, face soft. “Rose-”

One of the older girls stepped forward, face full of hope. “Are you here to bring us home?”

_Home?_

_Was this… not their home?_

“No, Rose,” the woman said before she could say anything. “They came here looking for safety, and found Sanctum. It’s alright.”

Rose looked down at the woman’s hands nervously. “Why did they trap your hands?”

The woman looked down at her hands. “I… I was not very nice to them. You don’t need to worry though. It’s all fine.”

“Kaylee!” An older man pushed to the front, and Clarke noticed that more people had filed in, adults this time, many moving to the front, watching the new people warily. Keeping the children from them. It was a reasonable reaction. They had invaded their home, after all.

“Russell!” The woman, Kaylee, stepped forward, dipping her head to him. “Welcome home. We have a bit of a… problem.”

Russell’s eyes glanced over the earth people. “I can see that. Explain.”

Clarke struggled to her feet, most of the haziness having worn off. Suddenly, she held everyone’s attention. “We don’t want to impose,” she said, stepping forward despite her mother’s attempts to keep her back. “We flew our ship in yesterday, and were trying to find safety from the bugs. This was the only place we could find.” She looked over the crowd of people. “We don’t want to hurt anybody. We’re just trying to find a place to stay.”

Russell nodded. “So you did not come here to harm us. Why did you come here? Where do you originate from?”

“We came from Earth.” That caused a rumble through the crowd, but a hand from Russell silenced them. She noticed a couple more people had come to join him and Kaylee at the front, more than likely the leaders of this place. “Our planet was destroyed after the remaining nuclear reactors melted down. We were forced to flee to space.” Not entirely true, but it wasn’t a lie, either. She was just… omitting certain events. But better to keep it simple for now.

But the man didn’t question. “Very well. You may stay while we discuss your situation. Perhaps we can come to an agreement.”

Clarke felt a wave of relief flow through her. “Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated.”

“So Earth is gone?” A woman, standing beside Russell, spoke up. She was dark-skinned, her hair piled neatly atop her head, face serious. “There is no going back?”

Clarke shook her head. “No. We had someone manning our ship immediately after it’s destruction, but after over a decade with no sign of return, he gave up and searched for somewhere else.”

The crowd murmured, clearly offput by this information. Russell nodded. “We can discuss this in more detail later. For now, I’m guessing you are all very tired. Let us find you somewhere to stay. I’m sure we can find somewhere with enough empty rooms for all of you.”

An older woman stepped forward, her face sweet, looking all too kind. “My pub has many empty rooms. There is enough room for all of you to be welcome. Come, I will show you”

Clarke smiled at her. “Thank you.” She smiled back.

As people started to clear, Clarke’s ear caught on something. Glancing over her shoulder back at Russell, she saw a younger woman standing next to him, hand gesturing to Clarke. “I call dibs on that one.”

“Josie,” the man scolded with a hushed tone, but Clarke’s gaze caught hers, and the smirk on Josie’s face was all she needed to see.

Clarke hurried after the rest of her people.

Well. Wasn’t this an interesting turn of events.

︵‿︵‿୨✼୧‿︵‿︵

They were given a day to rest before Clarke was told that she was expected for a meeting with Russell and his wife, who she had learned was named Simone.

There was quite the assortment of clothes, and Clarke chose a soft pink sundress. The openness of a dress was not something she was very accustomed to, but it was nice, in a way. Something new. The last time she’d worn a dress was probably for the ceremony at Polis, all those years ago. And before that, she couldn’t even begin to remember.

Being led into the palace, Clarke could only marvel at the intricacies of it. It was grand, the ceilings high, chandeliers hanging down, windows made of tinted glass letting in light. And god, when she entered the banquet hall, the sheer amount of food made her head spin.

“Clarke!” Russell waved her in, guiding her to her seat. “Sit, sit. Eat whatever you’d like, we have plenty.”

The two leaders got seated opposite of her while she eyed the selection on the table, almost too overwhelmed to choose anything. Hesitantly picking up one of the rolls from a basket, she took a bite, her eyes widening at the taste. God, she hadn’t had anything this good since- ever. The food on the Ark was all bland and produced, and Clarke was never a good cook, good enough to cook meat over a fire, but that was about the extent. This was phenomenal.

“Oh my god,” she breathed, and heard Russell chuckle. “This is incredible!”

“Yes, our chefs are quite talented.” The man leaned closer just slightly. “You may eat while we speak, if you wish, but I have quite a bit of questions for you, Clarke.”

She resisted from reaching out to take something else, knowing this was too important a meeting. She just nodded. It seemed to satisfy Russell, though Simone looked less content.

“Let’s start with what happened to Earth. Explain that to us. I’m assuming there is much more to the story than you have told us.”

Clarke let out a shaky sigh. “Yes. Most of the Earth was destroyed by the nuclear reactors melting down after being unmanned for almost a century. The first one blew, and it set off this- chain reaction, forming a wave of radiation big enough to rip apart the landscape. There was one area that the wave passed over, which was later destroyed after a group of Eligius prisoners attempted to take over the land from those of us who had already claimed it. When they realized we wouldn’t let them take it from us, they aimed a missile at the valley and blew it to bits. It’s only been desert ever since.”

“Is that so?” Simone was eyeing her with mistrustful eyes, and Clarke felt as if she knew something more than she should. “I believe one of your friends told us that there was a war over the valley, that hundreds of people were killed in the fights.”

 _Fucking Jordan._ “That’s true,” Clarke admitted, “but we were living peacefully before Eligius came down. And while some of our people did choose to be more violent than necessary, all those are still in Cryo on our ship.”

“So you are saying none of you down here now are violent? Because I believe you have quite the history behind you, Clarke. Or should I say _Wanheda_?”

There was a pang in her chest upon hearing such a name. God, she hated that title. Wanheda, commander of death, nothing more than a murderer. And she was that. She was, and that’s why she hated it.

Clarke swallowed. “We’re looking for a place to do better. This is our opportunity. I promise you, we mean you no harm. We’ve all been through war. We don’t want any more of it.” Clarke exhaled slowly. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but give us a chance. Please. If you don’t want us here, we’ll figure something out, but at least let us stay until then.”

Simone raised an eyebrow. “I have also heard that you entered a compound not unlike this one and murdered every man, woman, and child within it. Considering this, I’m not sure I’m inclined to believe you.”

Clarke winced as memories long since pushed back were suddenly brought forward again. “The people in Mount Weather, they were killing my people. It was the only choice I had if I wanted my people to live.”

Simone opened her mouth to speak again, but Russell held up his hand. “Simone. Enough.” He looked back to Clarke. “I am willing to give you a chance, Clarke. I want to believe you are looking to do better. But if you harm any of our people, I will not be so nice.”

Clarke sighed at that. “Thank you. I promise, your people will suffer no harm by any of my own. You have nothing to worry about.”

Russell just pursed his lips. “I hope so, Clarke. I hope so.”

“Return to your people,” Simone said. “Tell them what we have said. And do not give us any reason to doubt your word.”

Two guards opened the doors to the hall. Clarke stood, still feeling put off, but at the same time relieved they weren’t being kicked out. This was progress. Now she just had to show them they could be trusted.

She was intercepted before she could.

As the doors to the banquet hall closed behind her, Clarke felt something grab her wrist and pull her into the shadows. A hand covered her mouth, and she could feel someone pressed against her back, breath washing over her ear. Fingers trailed down her side, following the curve of her waist. “Hmm. I don’t think pink is quite your color.”

Clarke growled, the sound muffled under her assailant’s hand. “Who are you? Let me go!”

“All in good time, sweet girl.” The hand was removed from her mouth. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

Clarke’s face flushed red. “There are better ways to do that!”

“Oh, I know. But this is more fun!” Feeling the grip on her waist loosen, Clarke spun around, pushing away from whoever stood behind her. The girl was familiar, and Clarke realized she had seen her yesterday, that evening when the people of Sanctum returned. She’d been the same one who staked a claim on her.

The fact that they were still tucked in the shadows of a corner hid most of the girl’s features, but from what Clarke could tell, she was about the same age as herself, wavy blonde-brown hair reaching down to her chest, face permanently set in a smirk. She was pretty, Clarke had to admit. But she was also not making a very good first impression. “Who are you?”

The girl stuck out her hand. “Josephine Lightbourne. And you are Clarke Griffin.”

Clarke didn’t take the offered hand. “Well, Josephine, I have to get back to my people. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m afraid I can’t stay and chat,” she snarked, stepping out from their secluded corner and walking toward the door. She heard Josephine laughing behind her.

“I’ll get you to talk to me, pretty girl, just you wait.”

︵‿︵‿୨✼୧‿︵‿︵

It’s no surprise to Clarke when she finds guards watching her every move.

She gets it. She’s a well renowned mass murderer. As much as she loathes to admit it, that’s what she is. Russell has every reason to mistrust her. So she gets the guards. She really does. But having eyes on her all seconds of the day, having no idea of privacy, it got to her. She’d spent six years on her own with just Madi. She wasn’t used to being around this many people for so long.

Which is why, as soon as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, Clarke slipped out of the pub. Alone.

There were guards around the base, of course, and all of them turned to watch her as she made her way down the main steps. She wouldn’t be going far. Just out enough to have a sense of privacy. Where there would be no eyes on her.

The last time she’d been out in these fields, she hadn’t taken the time to appreciate them. But she could now. The flowers were beautiful, these ones specifically a stunning lilac that you so rarely saw nature produce. There were flowers like these in Eden, she remembered. Patches of them. Madi would always pluck them from the ground, make bouquets to bring home. Clarke had woven her a flower crown out of them once. God, she missed that. As much as she loved her friends, their return only brought chaos. She longed for such peace again. And maybe she could find it here.

Though that moment was not now, it seemed.

Hearing the sound of feet crunching on the dirt, Clarke ducked into the flowers, crouching low to the ground. Someone sprinted past, pushing in front of them what looked like a wheelbarrow. They were panting heavily, obviously running from something. She wanted to know what.

Poking out to check the area, she saw that the person wasn’t being chased, only running. Fleeing. They were fleeing. The question was why. This place was all she could ever want, why would anyone be running?

Stepping back onto the path, Clarke ran after the person, her feet almost silent against the ground, courtesy of years spent in the woods. Not having the additional weight of a wheelbarrow, she caught up much faster, too. They didn’t even see her until she was right on top of them.

Catching sight of movement beneath the sheet draped over the wheelbarrow, the points quickly connected in her mind. She leaped at the person, catching them off guard and knocking them onto the ground. They let out a shout, and Clarke pressed their face into the dirt, considering her options, but before she could react the person drew a dagger from their belt and threw their arm back. She reared away, the blade catching on her palm before she could get out of range. Growling, she grabbed their wrist, twisting their arm painfully until they dropped the knife. She snatched it up and pushed the metal against their neck. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The person was gasping beneath her weight, but they managed to make out a few rasping words. “Death to Primes.”

_What the hell did that mean?_

The revving of an engine caught her attention. Two mounted riders were driving bikes towards her, skidding to a stop just shy. One moved over to her and the other towards the abandoned wheelbarrow. She recognized the face of this one as one of the guards who had been keeping watch at the stairs. It seemed he recognized her too. “You did this?”

Clarke glanced down at the person still pinned beneath her. “Yes. He’s all yours.”

She stood from on top of them, pulling them up by the back of their shirt. The guard grabbed both their arms, quickly cuffing them together. “Much appreciated, Miss Griffin. We’ve been looking for this defector.”

She just dipped her head in acknowledgement. Looking back at the other guard, she gasped as she recognized the girl from the pub. “Delilah?”

The girl looked at her with wide eyes. “Clarke?” Her eyes settled nervously on the person currently restrained behind her. “I- guess I should thank you, then.”

Clarke smiled awkwardly. “Only trying to help.”

“Come with us to the castle, Miss Griffin,” one of the guards said. “I’m sure Prime Russell, hallowed be his name, will wish to know about your involvement.”

_Prime Russell._

_Death to Primes._

But then why Delilah?

And why did they want Russell dead?

︵‿︵‿୨✼୧‿︵‿︵

Russell met them at the steps leading up to the castle. His face darkened when he saw Clarke was with them.

The guard leading the kidnapper bowed his head to Russell. “This man was caught with Delilah, my liege, trying to make a break for the shield.”

“Very good,” Russell said. “And what of Miss Griffin? Why is she with you?”

“She was found with the man, my liege. She had him pinned to the dirt with a knife at his throat.”

“Did she?” Russell looked back to her with a newfound admiration. “Then I believe I have reason to thank you, Clarke. Come inside, come inside, tell me everything you saw.”

The entrance hall of the palace was lit up with lights, looking almost more stunning than when she’d first seen it earlier today. Russell led them down the hall, going where, Clarke had no idea. She startled as someone grabbed her wrist, her first instinct to deck them in the face, but when she saw it was a guard, she lowered her fist. The man didn’t even notice her reaction, his eyes locked on to her bleeding palm, staring at it with awe. “My liege!”

Russell paused, turning back to them. When he saw her wound, his eyes widened. “You have the blood,” he said, voice hushed. His gaze flickered to her confused face and he waved her forward. “I should have asked if you were injured, my apologizes. Come, let me show you to our healers. They will have your wound patched in no time.”

Questions upon questions.

Something was going on here. She was going to figure out what it was.

︵‿︵‿୨✼୧‿︵‿︵

Clarke returned to the pub much later, still reeling from the experience.

“I cannot thank you enough, Clarke,” Russell had said as the healer, Cillian, cared for the gash. “With Delilah’s naming day coming tomorrow, her loss would have been a devastating hit. I hope you will get the chance to enjoy our hospitality at the celebrations. Your help is greatly appreciated.”

She hadn’t asked what a ‘naming day’ was. Nor had she asked about their strange reactions to her blood. Or about the defector. She had a feeling there was some information that she was not supposed to know. She didn’t dare push the limits.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t dead-set on figuring it out, though.

After last night, Clarke slept ‘til nearly noon, exhausted from the events. By then, the naming day was already under way. Repentance was their theme now, making amends to those they’ve harmed. It was almost ironic, how perfectly that fit Clarke. Repentance. Something she searched for, but never seemed to quite grasp.

There were people crowded in the pub for the celebrations, and multiple tables were filled with lanterns, stacked on top of each other. There were people scribbling words onto little slips of paper and tying them to the lanterns. 

“Clarke!” Said woman blinked, taking a second to register her name before something slammed into her. Clarke glanced down at the bundle of dark hair and immediately wrapped her arms around the little body as tight as she could. 

“Oh thank god you’re alright.” Clarke pulled away from her daughter, clutching Madi’s shoulders. “You’re okay, right? You got back safe? No trouble?”

The girl bit her lip. “Not exactly… but it’s okay! I’m alright! They didn’t hurt me!”

Clarke still couldn’t help but scan the young girl’s body in search of injuries. “What happened?”

“These people, I don’t know, the guards called them Children of Gabriel, came out of the trees and paralyzed us, but they just wanted to get the… the Primes. The guards came and chased them off before they could do anything.” Seeing Clarke’s still worried face, Madi rolled her eyes in typical teenager fashion. “Mom. I’m _fine_. I’ll be safe here.”

 _A fact Clarke was starting to doubt_ . But she didn’t say that. She only sighed, patting Madi’s shoulder. “I know, I know. I just worry.” At Madi’s exasperated look, Clarke laughed. “Go enjoy yourself, _ai natblida_. I won’t make you stay here.”

At that, Madi brightened, beaming up at her. “Thanks, Clarke! I promise I won’t get in too much trouble!” She said, already pushing away through the crowd. Clarke felt a wave of happiness, knowing her daughter was finally getting the chance to enjoy herself. She wouldn’t ruin that with her suspicions. They were only suspicions. She wanted Madi to enjoy the peace while she could.

Instead, Clarke went over to the lanterns.

Seeming to notice her interest, the pub’s host, a kind woman named Blythe Ann, Delilah’s mother, came over. “We use them to repent for our sins,” she explained, her kindly smile somehow instantly making Clarke feel more comfortable with her. “Write down anything we feel guilt for and release them into the sky. It’s a way of forgiving ourselves, releasing that guilt from our minds. A way of freeing ourselves.”

Clarke smiled. “It’s a nice thought,” she said. “That you can give away your pain, send it up into the sky.”

“Why don’t you try it?” The older woman suggested, patting Clarke on the back. “You hold a heavy weight on your shoulders, I can tell. See if today can help ease your worries a bit.”

She offered Clarke a platter of delicacies, and Clarke took one, thanking her before she left. Savoring the taste, she looked down at the papers, debating. God, there were so many things she could write down. So many sins. Too many. But it wouldn’t hurt to try. Catching a glimpse of her friends gathered at a table in the corner, she knew what she was going to write.

They all hated her now. She wanted to earn their forgiveness. She was only trying to protect Madi, to keep her home safe. She never meant to hurt them. And maybe in another life, she could have found another way. But what was done was done. Now she could only work towards forgiveness. Hope she could make up for the pain she’d caused them.

Clarke felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes as she tied the paper to one of the lanterns. It fit right in among the rest. No one would know how much heavier a weight hers held. How much worse of a sin it contained. God, she’d committed crimes these people could never imagine were humanly possible. They were so kind to her, so welcoming - would they be so kind if they knew what she’d done? How many deaths she was responsible for?

Of course not. It was only because they didn’t know that they weren’t afraid of her.

She hated that she made people afraid of her.

The only people that weren’t afraid of her were her friends. If she could call them that anymore. No, they weren’t afraid, but they were angry. With good reason, too.

Looking longingly at the table where her friends sat, she swallowed nervously. She might have considered going over, maybe if it was still the group from the original expedition, before Raven had come with the rest of them. Because Raven was the one person who hated her the most, and Clarke couldn’t bear it. One of her oldest, dearest friends, couldn’t even talk to her without spitting insults and accusations.

Though today _was_ about repentance. Maybe she should try.

The plan backfired before she could even say a word.

Making her way over to the table, Murphy was the first to notice her, waving her over. She felt a tendril of hope unravel in her chest, but as soon as Raven turned around, it vanished. Her happy expression dropped the moment she saw Clarke. “Hey, Griffin. Fucked up anyone’s life recently?”

Her heart dropped. She heard Murphy scolding Raven, but she ignored him in favor of her old friend. “Raven, I-”

“Oh, save it,” she hissed. “I don’t want to hear your half-hearted apologies. They don’t mean anything to the dead.”

God, she was stupid to have thought Raven would listen to her.

Murphy and Bellamy both called out after her, but they didn’t want to be around her anyway. Why would they? She was _Wanheda_. She was a bad omen at best, a murderous psychopath at worst. A disease. That was what the hallucinations had said. And she knew they weren’t real, of course not, but they were right.

So she tucked herself away by the pond, settled between the flowers, completely unnoticed by the joyous natives. Staring at the smooth surface of the water, Clarke felt a little bit better. No one would pay her any mind. There were no people looking at her like she was a monster. They just saw her as another girl, an outsider, sure, but just another girl. And god, was that relieving. 

Clarke stayed curled up by the waterside for hours, basking in the sunlight, until the grumbling of her stomach became too much to ignore. She slipped unnoticed back into the pub, settling herself at the far end of the bar. They gave her a plate of food, nothing as generous as Russell had within the palace, but it was still some of the best food she’d ever had. Fresh fruits and deliciously cooked meats, as well as a glass of some sort of reddish drink that tasted sweeter than anything.

She avoided looking at her friends, lounging in the corner, sipping slowly at the drink. She flinched as an arm came around her shoulder and someone settled on the chair beside her. “It’s named after me, you know.”

“What is?”

“Your drink. They call it Jo Juice.” Josephine reached over and stole Clarke’s glass, taking a sip of it herself. “I’m not sure if such a sugary drink should have my name, but I’m not complaining.”

Clarke shrugged the older girl’s arm off her shoulders, ignoring Josie’s disgruntled noise. “So what, are you like the princess here?”

Josie barked a laugh. “You’re funny. I suppose I am, in a way, being the daughter of the two leaders. Not sure if I’m your typical princess though.”

Clarke snorted. “Tell me about it,” she muttered under her breath. Josie just smirked. 

Someone dropped off another glass of the Jo Juice in front of Clarke, Josie still hoarding Clarkes. The other girl took a long swig of the drink. “So why is the great _Wanheda_ over here sulking instead of enjoying the celebration with her friends?”

Clarke winced. “What, you telling me you’d want to hang out around the Commander of Death herself? Doesn’t exactly come with a good reputation.”

“Well, I’m hanging out with you now, aren’t I?” 

Clarke raised an eyebrow at her. “You are. And why are you?”

Josie shrugged. “Maybe I just want to get to know you.”

“You’ve had an eye on me the entire time I’ve been here. I think it’s more than that.”

“Maybe you’re just that interesting.”

Clarke took a sip of her drink, not taking her eyes off Josie’s face. Josie scoffed. “Oh come on, can’t you just accept that some people don’t hate you?”

“The fact that you don’t hate me doesn’t explain your strange obsession with me.”

Josie hummed. “Maybe if you got to know me better I’d tell you.”

Clarke couldn’t help her amused smile. “Sly.”

“I know.”

Josephine had a confidence about her, this cocky, full of herself attitude, like she knew just how much better she was than everyone. And honestly? It was kind of endearing. And the fact that Clarke had caught her attention, of all people. She was going to figure this girl out. 

“Your friends are looking at us.”

Clarke glanced up from the counter to see that, yes, they were. Raven’s eyes were narrowed as she looked between the two blondes, and the others looked almost concerned. She huffed. “I don’t think they like that you’re here.”

“I don’t think their opinion matters. If they were that worried, they’d be over here with you.” She shrugged. “Guess I just care more.”

“I was getting the feeling you were over here more for you than for me.”

Josie chuckled, leaning over until their arms were pressed together and her mouth was by Clarke’s ear. “Maybe that’s because you’re for me.”

Clarke turned until she could feel Josie’s breath fanning across her cheek. “That’s a bit presumptuous.”

“No, just confidence.”

Clarke shivered, feeling a shock of arousal. “And what are you going to do about that?”

“Hopefully have you screaming my name by the end of the night.”

Clarke gasped, felt her cunt pulse eagerly in response. She heard Josie laugh, a hand sliding up her back to rest against the back of her neck. “Think about it, hm?”

She slipped off her seat, disappearing in the crowd, and leaving Clarke at the bar, still reeling from the experience.

︵‿︵‿୨✼୧‿︵‿︵

As soon as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, they lit the lanterns.

Clarke stood leaning against the side of the pub, watching the glowing papers float up, looking like fallen stars in the sky. The sizzle of the lanterns against the radiation ruined that illusion, but it was easy enough to ignore. Clarke couldn’t say it made her feel any better.

Releasing a lantern into the sky didn’t fix the fact that her friends hated her. It didn’t fix all the lives she’d taken. 

Ever since Josephine had left her at the bar, Clarke had caught the rest of Earthkru looking back at her constantly, expressions uneasy. Almost like they cared. She wondered what they were thinking, about Josie. If they were worried for Clarke, or if they were worried for _her_.

She at one point caught Bellamy trying to make his way over to her, eyes constantly flitting around, as if making sure a certain person wasn’t there. She knew who he was looking for. And it bothered her that her presence mattered. So she avoided him. Maybe not the best move if she wanted to reconcile with her friends, but she was getting far more from Josie than she was from them, and she’d just met the girl. So maybe she was a bit sour.

Or maybe she just didn’t want her friend getting between her and Josie’s… offer.

Russell began making a speech about the importance of forgiveness, and Clarke could feel eyes boring into her, but refused to give in to them. She wasn’t going to let their rejection get to her. She wasn’t. Tonight was supposed to be a fun time, and Clarke was determined to make the most of it.

She heard Russell’s announcement about the celebrations in the castle, dancing and alcohol, and glanced back up to the podium, meeting Josie’s gaze. The older girl was looking right at her, a smirk on her face, and Clarke felt her face heat up. Ducking back inside the pub to escape wandering eyes, Clarke went back up to her room, sorting through the closet. There was one dress, went all the way down to her ankles, a flowing blue, and had a deep neckline that showed off far more than it should.

Josie wasn’t the only one who could be a tease.

Doing her best to avoid interactions with any of the other Earthkru, Clarke made her way to the palace, slipping into the crowd of people easily. Her eyes searched the masses, but couldn’t catch sight of the person she was looking for. Instead, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and turned to see the same doctor who had patched up her hand. Cillian, she believed. He flashed her a charming smile. “Care to dance?”

No. She did not. But maybe she could use this to her advantage.

“It would be my pleasure,” she replied, feeling both amused and disgusted as his eyes flickered down to her chest. She almost had the mind to turn him away, but she’d already committed. So she took his hand and let him lead her out into the center floor.

He pulled her close to his chest, hands landing on her waist while she wrapped hers around his neck. He asked about how she was liking Sanctum, and Clarke let him lead them in a casual conversation, trying to keep herself from looking around too often. She wondered how long it would take.

Apparently, the answer was not long at all.

“Cillian.” The sickly sweet voice interrupted their talk, and the doctor looked up over her shoulder. Clarke felt another body step up close beside her, felt a hand fall to her hip, squeezing possessively.

“Josephine Prime.” The man dipped his head respectfully, pulling himself away from Clarke. “What can I do for you, my lady?”

Clarke couldn’t see Josie from where she stood, but she could only imagine the look on her face as Cillian paled. “You can leave. Find another girl to dance with, doctor. One that isn’t already… _claimed_.”

Clarke shuddered, feeling heat creep up her neck. Cillian bowed slightly, muttering his apologies as he fled. Clarke felt a certain satisfaction at watching him run. The thought ran from her mind when Josie’s hand squeezed her hip hard enough to bruise.

“You’re a brat, aren’t you?”

Clarke grinned, tipping her head back to look at Josie. “I just wanted to dance.”

“You wanted to make me jealous.”

“Maybe you were taking too long. I got bored of waiting.” That wasn’t true at all, Clarke had barely had to wait a second, but she wasn’t going to be so kind as to tell Josie that.

Josie growled, spinning Clarke around and tugging her hips into her own. “You don’t want to lie to me, pretty girl.”

Clarke leaned in closer. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. Yet.”

Clarke exhaled heavily, looking into Josie’s eyes, black with desire. She knew hers probably looked much the same. So she draped her arms over the short girl’s shoulders, unable to tear her gaze away, their faces close enough that Clarke felt their noses brush. Josie smirked up at her, pulling her head back. “Not yet, sweet girl. Have a bit of patience.”  
Clarke considered biting back her remark, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit difficult. “Says you.”

Josie laughed, standing on her toes to mutter ‘brat’ into her ear.

They swayed together, bodies pressed close, Clarke’s mind buzzing pleasantly at the feeling of human contact, at the lack of responsibility, at the sheer effect Josie had on her. It wasn’t until her eyes moved up to the stage overlooking the floor that she realized they were being watched.

“I’m not sure your father is happy with me.”

Josie snorted, dragging Clarke even closer. “Don’t care. He just hates that his little girl is out enjoying herself. Probably scared you’ll try to stab me in the back. He’s a bit paranoid in that way.”

Clarke hummed. “Are you scared of that?”

Josie laughed. “I think you could, if you wanted to. But I know you don’t. I can see what I do to you.”

Clarke’s breath hitched. “And what do you do to me?”

The elder girl smirked. “Wreck you.”

Oh, she absolutely did. Clarke had no doubt her panties were already ruined. And from the look Josie was giving her, she probably knew it, too.

The world has closed in to just them. Clarke was aware of every part of her that touched Josie, how their chests were pressed together, hips knocking, each new touch making her spark. She pressed her nose closer into Josie’s hair, one hand bunching up the back of the girl’s dress, gripping her tight. 

She couldn’t say how long they stood together for, whether it was only a few moments or a few hours, but eventually, Josie separated, leaving Clarke feeling cold and exposed without their contact. Then Josie slid her hand into Clarke’s and it was a bit better, but she still missed the closeness of being locked together.

Josie tugged on her hand, pulling her away from the dance floor. Clarke trailed after her, eyeing the guards standing by the doorway, eyeing Russell, who was watching them with a hard glare, and suddenly felt her survival instinct kick in, saying no, this was dangerous. And she knew very well it could be. She knew that from the start. She just hadn’t let herself think it. “Josie, wait-”

Josie spun on her heels, pulling Clarke forward into her chest. Their cheeks brushed together as the older girl leaned in close. “Why don’t you just relax for once,” she purred, a shiver running up Clarke’s spine, “and let someone else take care of you?”

Clarke felt her breath catch in the back of her throat, could feel Josie’s smirk against the skin of her cheek. So she just nodded, and let herself be led away from the main room and through twisting hallways. It didn’t even occur to her to keep track of what turns they were making, her mind fuzzy with lust.

Josie brought her into a large room, with a large, fancy bed sitting in the center. Shutting and locking the door behind them, Josie wrapped her fingers around Clarke’s wrists and kissed her sweetly.

Having been deprived of such a touch for far too many years, Clarke couldn’t help the whimper that escaped her throat. The laugh that rumbled from Josie’s throat made her knees go weak. She leaned heavily against the other girl, her hands still held in place between them, and that feeling of powerlessness was both frightening and thrilling.

Josie led them backwards, still supporting most of Clarke’s weight, until her knees hit the bed and she crumpled back onto it. The elder girl leaned down to place a kiss on the corner of her lips, taking Clarke’s hands and holding them above her head. She squeezed her wrists. Clarke got the idea, her hands remaining in place when Josie leaned back up.

“Look at you,” she hummed, a hand trailing over Clarke’s hips. “This dress looks stunning on you. God, that neckline, it’s almost taunting.” Josie ran a finger down between Clarke’s breasts, the younger girl’s breaths becoming shaky. Her eyes fell closed under Josie’s praise, feeling heavy with a contentment she hadn’t felt in forever. “That’s it, babygirl, let me take care of you.”

She felt warm lips press against her neck, soft, ever so soft, could feel a hand trailing over her stomach and then her thigh, down to the edge of her dress. Clarke whined helplessly as Josie’s fingers drifted up her thigh, skimming ever so close to her pulsing cunt before pulling away. “What do you want first, baby?” She asked, “fingers or mouth?”

The image of Josie’s head between her legs, pretty little mouth absolutely wrecking Clarke’s pussy sent another flash of arousal through her. “Mouth,” she panted, “want your mouth.”

Josie leaned down to press a kiss to Clarke’s lips, the younger girl already hazy enough that she could barely even reciprocate. “Alright, baby. Now be a good girl and stay still while I take care of you, okay? Just lay back and relax. I got you.”

As if she could relax right now, with Josie nipping at her collarbone, a hand pushing the top of her dress down below her breasts. “God, your tits are gorgeous,” she breathed, rolling a nipple between her fingers. “So beautiful. Such a pretty girl.”

Clarke made a desperate noise that turned into a gasping moan as Josie wrapped her lips around a perky nipple. Her muscles twitched, and she wanted to tangle her hands in Josie’s hair, urge her down lower until she was buried right where Clarke wanted her, but Josie had told her to stay. And she wanted to be a good girl. As much as she wondered what Josie’s punishments would look like, that wasn’t what she wanted right now. Right now she wanted to be fucked until she couldn’t even remember her own name.

Clarke’s hips canted up, her clit brushing against Josie’s stomach, and she moaned, pushing up farther. The older girl was having none of it though and shifted so that Clarke was pushing up into empty space. The sound she made was pitiful, a disappointed mewl that had Josie chuckling into her skin. She sucked hard at Clarke’s nipple, earning more of those amazing noises that spilled helplessly from the younger’s mouth. 

Josie lavished at Clarke’s tits, sucking and biting until both her breasts were mottled red and purple, undoubtedly sore if the way Clarke jerked away from her mouth was any indication. She knew she’d spent far too long there, long enough that each second passing had Clarke crying out desperately. Josie grinned, loving the torturously slow pace. “Tell me what you want, babygirl.”

“Mouth,” she gasped, squirming for any sort of contact, “want your mouth.”

“And where do you want it?”

“On my cunt!” She cried, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Please, please put your mouth on my cunt, fuck me with your tongue, please, please, please-”

Clarke’s chant descended into a wail as Josie flattened her tongue over her pussy, two fingers moving down to tweak at her clit. Josie lapped at her wetness, savoring the taste, enjoying the pretty sounds that fell off Clarke’s lips. The younger was bucking into her face, needing more contact, more pleasure, already feeling herself teetering on the brink of an orgasm. Josie closed her mouth around Clarke’s clit, biting down, and she shrieked, grinding up, chasing the impending orgasm-

And suddenly she was left dry.

Clarke whined at the sudden loss of contact, feeling her orgasm backing off, opening her eyes to see Josie standing back up, smirking down at her. It took a moment for Clarke to get anything out. “Keep going, please-”

“Quiet, babygirl,” Josie hushed, stroking a hand down her leg. “I said I’d take care of you. And I will. Just trust that I will make this the best fuck you’ve ever had. Can you trust me with that?”

“Yes, yes, I can, please make me come, please Josie make me come-”

“I will, don’t worry baby, just have a bit of patience.” Josie patted her thigh and dropped back down to her knees between Clarke’s legs. “Just a bit of patience. Trust me.”

And then she was thrusting her tongue into Clarke’s pussy. Clarke keened, her head dropping back onto the mattress, hips pushing incessantly into Josie’s mouth, hoping to catch an orgasm before she was denied once again. Josie worked her up quick, fucking her with her tongue, hands reaching up to tug at Clarke’s sore nipples. Clarke fisted the covers with enough force to make her muscles cramp, her back arching up into Josie’s touch even as each pull at her breasts gave her a shock of pain. Not that she could really tell the difference. It was all blurring together, the stimulations, all of it coming to an overwhelming crest until she felt like she was about to explode.

And Josie slowed down again, pulling her tongue out to give kitten licks to her lips, fingers trailing down away from her tits and over her belly. Tears fell from her eyes now, throat catching on a broken sob as she was once again denied an orgasm.

“You’re doing amazing, baby, being such a good girl for me,” Josie purred against her cunt, making Clarke gasp. “But I haven’t heard you screaming my name yet.”

“I will!” Clarke cried, writhing on the bed, “please, Josie, please, just let me come, please let me come!”

Josie pressed a kiss to her clit, and that alone was enough to have her bucking up. “I will, babygirl, this time, I promise. There’s just one thing I want to get first.”

Clarke whimpered as Josie pulled away, walking over to the nightstand beside her bed. She rolled open one of the drawers and sifted around, pulling something out and returning back to Clarke. The younger didn’t get the chance to see what it was, but at this point she could care less as long as Josie would finally let her come.

She started slow again, this time focusing her mouth on Clarke’s clit as one finger circled her entrance. She pushed the tip inside, gliding easily inside with just how soaked Clarke was after two denials. She pulled it out and added a second, barely giving any time for Clarke to adjust to the burn before she started a slow rhythm with her thrusts. Her tongue circled around her clit, flicking at it, skimming her teeth over the top, but still taking it far too slow for Clarke’s liking. She bucked into Josie’s face, moaning helplessly. “Josie, please, more!”

And Josie delivered, adding a third finger on her next thrust. Clarke shrieked, her body squirming as it pushed forward into an orgasm. “Josie, more, fuck, Josie, Josie-!” Her chanting reached a crescendo and Clarke screamed as she finally peaked, her thighs snapping together around Josie’s head, convulsing at the sheer pleasure. But Josie didn’t stop, she kept fucking her through it, not even giving her any time to recover. She did remove her mouth though, her free hand pulling out whatever it was she had retrieved from her nightstand.

“Tell me, Clarke, you ever used any sex toys?” The younger only moaned, her mind barely even processing the words. “Have you ever used one like this? I think you’ll enjoy it quite a lot.”

Josie pressed the cold toy to her clit, making Clarke shudder. She had no time to prepare herself for what Josie had planned though, as Josie switched it on and suddenly Clarke was howling. The toy vibrated against her clit, sending waves of pleasure rocketing through her and pushing her over into another orgasm.

Clarke let out a sob as Josie still didn’t let up, the combination of her fingers and the vibrator throwing her over the edge again, and Clarke barely had the energy to give much of a reaction, only crying desperately for it to stop. And Josie did finally let up, switching off the vibrator and setting it on the nightstand. Clarke’s entire world was hazy, overwhelmed from three mind-blowing orgasms, teetering on the edge of darkness. She felt Josie wrap her up in her arms, pulling Clarke’s limp body against her chest, and Clarke let her tears soak the older girl’s dress.

She must have blacked out for a moment, because next she knew, Josie was running a damp cloth between her legs, and Clarke was situated against the pillows. She groaned, her limbs feeling heavy and sated, and for once Clarke couldn’t remember anything outside of the current moment. 

Josie tossed the cloth into a basket in the corner, not hesitating to crawl into the bed and curl up around Clarke. The younger girl sighed, burying her face into the crook of her neck, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Go to sleep, Clarke,” Josie muttered, a hand combing through her hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Clarke drifted to sleep feeling absolute contentment, stuck in her own little bubble of peace, and thinking about how she never wanted to leave it.

︵‿︵‿୨✼୧‿︵‿︵

When Clarke woke up, she was alone in Josie’s bed.

Arching her back in a stretch, she blinked the fuzziness from her eyes and looked around. She couldn’t see the older girl anywhere, but the balcony doors were open, sounds flooding into the room. It was darker than she remembered it being, but not by much. She must have not been asleep long.

Sitting up, Clarke adjusted her dress until it didn’t look like she’d just been fucked senseless and walked out onto the balcony. Josie was leaning against the railing, looking down to the front of the castle, where the crowd had gathered once more. Clarke settled beside her, watching.

“The celebrations are over,” Josie said, quiet. “Priya has already been crowned. The people are waiting to see her.”

Clarke still didn’t fully understand how the leadership of this land worked, but she wasn’t going to question. “Shouldn’t we be down there?”

Josie shrugged. “You? Doesn’t matter. I probably should though.”

“Are you going to go?”

“No. I’d rather stay here than be down there for some boring old ceremony.”

Clarke huffed a laugh. “Your father-”

“Will be mad, but he can’t do anything. Stop worrying, sweet girl. You think too much.”

Clarke just hummed in agreement, leaning into Josie’s side. The other girl wrapped an arm around her waist, fingers squeezing her thigh, pinching the inner skin. Clarke shivered, leaning over to press a kiss to Josie’s jaw. “Don’t start something you don’t plan on finishing.”

“Who said I wasn’t going to finish it?”

Clarke smiled, letting Josie pull her in for a kiss.

It was certainly a good way to make her stop worrying.


	2. ─ ❝ 𝐭𝐰𝐨 ❞ ─

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke didn’t even realize she was crying until Josie brushed her tears with her fingers. “Don’t cry, sweet girl,” she muttered. “I wish I knew what you were thinking.”
> 
> _Don’t let me die don’t let me die please Josie don’t let me die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay listen I hate bashing on Raven but s6 Raven is so easy to... villainize? that's too hard a word but it's easy to turn her into a very unlikable character and I'm sorry but I went there
> 
> Anyway this chapter is shorter than the last one by about 2.5k words, sorry, but I thought this was a good cliffhanger. You're welcome :)

_ "I wish I could give you  
The remainder of my life  
To add to yours,  
Or simply erase  
The lines on your face,  
And mend all that has been torn" _

_ ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem _

Clarke startled awake to the sound of an angry shout.

So used to needing to wake up alert, Clarke jolted up before she could even take in what was happening. Russell and Simone stood in the doorway of the room, staring at her, and Clarke realized she was still naked. Quickly pulling the sheet up over her chest, she sunk back into the bed, watching them warily.

Beside her, Josie groaned, pulling herself up to sit beside Clarke. “Oh my god, dad,  _ what? _ ”

Simone scowled. “You know what, Josephine, you cannot just-”

“Simone.” Russell put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and nodded at Clarke. “Leave us.”

Still in fight-or-flight mode, Clarke hesitantly slid off the bed to pick up her discarded dress, trying to keep the sheet between her and the primes. Josie moved over to help her, holding up the sheet like a shield while she dressed. She saw Josie’s trouble-making smirk as the girl puckered her lips playfully, cocking an eyebrow, despite her parents standing a few feet away from the bed. Clarke gave her a quick peck before slipping out of the room, shutting the door behind her until it clicked shut.

She was about to leave, to return to her people, as it was already late in the morning, but she heard something that froze her in place.

“We told you not to get involved with that girl.”

Quietly backtracking to the door, Clarke leaned in close, knowing she should leave, but she needed to know. 

“Mom, please,” Josie said, her voice dripping with annoyance. “I haven’t taken a lover in  _ years _ . Why are you so against this?”

“You know why, Josephine!” Russell snapped. “She has the blood! You know we are running out of hosts! With Rose missing, she and her people may be our last resort!”

_ The blood. Hosts.  _ What did they mean? And how did it have to do with her?

“She doesn’t know what we are!” Josie argued. “She doesn’t understand! She’d never agree to be a host, nor would any of her people!”

“Then convince her,” Simone said. “If you are so desperate to be involved with this girl, then it will be your job to make her into a willing host.”

“What? No! I’m not going to let you take her!”

“Why not? What makes her different from the body you wear now? Why them and not her?”

“You know she’s worse, Josie,” Russell said. “Her people are violent. Turning them into hosts ensures they can’t be. Ensures  _ she  _ won’t be.”

“What are you going to do? Force her?” Josie growled. “Aren’t you the one always pledging about the consent of the people? Seems a bit hypocritical.”

Russell sighed. “We might have no choice.”

“No! Not her!”

“Josie-”

“Get the fuck out of my room!”

Clarke took that as her cue to leave.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

Clarke’s head was spinning. 

What did they mean? Turn her into a host? What did that mean? Russell had said it would make sure she couldn’t do anything to harm them- god, what did it all mean?

And what Simone had said made it even more confusing.  _ What makes her different from the body you wear now?  _ It didn’t make any sense. 

Was Josie lying to her about something?

God, she hoped not. Josie was one of the best things that had happened to her in a long time. Clarke knew she was being gullible, making herself vulnerable, but before she hadn’t cared, only basked in the attention and worship the girl had given her. She’d only wanted to let go for a while. To not have to worry for a moment of her life.

She hoped it wasn’t coming back to bite her.

Clarke scampered back into the pub, sticking close to the wall, hoping to pass by unnoticed. Unfortunately, it seemed people were looking for her. Almost like they were concerned for her. If they did, they had a hell of a way of showing it.

“Clarke!” She sighed in frustration, turning to look at Bellamy. He had worry set in his face. Murphy and Emori hovered behind him, and the others sat back at the table, watching. “Where have you been?”

Clarke felt a rush of annoyance. “Why do you care,” she snapped. “I was having fun.”

Bellamy shook his head. “We saw you walk off with the Prime. Josephine. We were worried.”

“Oh, so  _ now _ you care about me?” Clarke barked a laugh. “I thought that was a lost cause.”

“What? Of course we care about you, Clarke.” Bellamy stepped closer, reaching for her, only for her to shrink away. He winced, stepping back. “I know things have been rough, but we still care about you. We want to help you.”

Clarke felt her heart squeeze. “Well I don’t need your help,” she muttered, trying to walk past. To her surprise, it was Raven who blocked her. But unlike Bellamy, she looked more angry than concerned.

“We want to know what you’re doing with that Prime,” Raven growled. “Make sure you aren’t making deals behind our back.”

_ And there it was _ .

“You really think I would do that?” Clarke hissed. “No matter how much you hate me, I am still loyal to my people. I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger.”

“Really?” Raven raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t seem to think that before we came to Alpha. I mean, you fled Polis, left Bellamy to the fighting pits, to join the enemy. Was that for your people?”

Clarke’s face heat up, whether from anger or guilt, it could be either. She heard Murphy behind her telling them both to calm down. She ignored him. “I did that because I needed to protect Madi. I needed to protect my daughter. Can you blame me for that?”

“Which is why I don’t have trouble believing you could do something like that again.” Raven sneered. “This doesn’t have to be hard, Clarke. Just tell us what you’re doing with the Prime and we’ll be good.”

Despite what Clarke knew she should do, knew she should feel, she still felt a strong urge to defend the Prime, because whether or not Josie had been lying to her, had been tricking her, she’d made Clarke feel better than she had in  _ years _ . That had to count for something.

“Josephine is none of your concern,” Clarke replied. “I am not trying to sabotage you. Our business is our own, not yours.” The two women glowered at each other. “This conversation is  _ over _ .”

She pushed past Raven fleeing up the stairs. She took one quick glance over her shoulder, catching Bellamy watching her with sad eyes. Pleading with her.

She shook her head, stepping into her room and closing the door behind her.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

Clarke manages to avoid confrontation for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get out completely unscathed.

When the knock comes, the moon is already working it’s way up. Clarke is sketching in her bed, dressed in a loose nightgown, a lantern sitting on the stand beside the bed to keep the room lit. She wasn’t expecting anyone to come for her this late.

Setting her sketchbook on the nightstand, she stretched her legs, walking over to the door. She felt her gut twist when she saw the smirking face. “It’s late.”

“I know.”

Clarke stepped aside, letting the source of her problems stride in. Josie scoffed. “I could get you a better room than this. It’s so…  _ small _ .”

Clarke snorted. “You should have seen where I grew up.”

“Your space station? I can’t imagine spending eighteen years in space.”

The younger girl sighed. “It becomes a lot less appealing after you’ve lived on the ground.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Josie sat down on the bed, reaching out to grab one of Clarke’s hands and tug her forward. “But you’re here now.”

Josie grabbed Clarke’s collar, pulling her down onto her lap, pressing their lips together. Clarke melted into it, momentarily forgetting her suspicions, before her body seemed to remember itself, stiffening up. She pushed Josie back, shaking her head. “Wait.”

The older girl leaned back onto her elbows, raising an eyebrow. “Are we really doing this again?”

“No, but-” Clarke stuttered, “what did your parents say to you? After I left?”

Beneath her, Josie froze. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Clarke shook her head. “No, Josie. What do they want with me? What do they want you to do to me?”

The Prime’s eyes widened. “You heard that?”

“You aren’t exactly quiet.”

The girl grimaced, a hand reaching up to twirl her hair, something Clarke had noticed seemed to be a common thing with her. “Okay. Fine. I’ll explain.”

“Before you do.” Clarke, still straddling Josie’s lap, leaned down closer. “Have you been lying to me?”

“What? No!” Josie reached a hand up to lightly stroke Clarke’s chin. “I promise you, I haven’t lied. About any of it. I’m not trying to hurt you.”

And despite knowing how screwed she would be if Josie was faking it, Clarke believed her.

“Good.” Clarke rolled off of Josie’s lap, sitting on the bed next to her. “Now explain.”

The elder girl sat up, turning to face Clarke. “It’s- it’s complicated. So just listen.”

She would listen.

“We- the primes- were the original settlers on Alpha,” Josie started. “We didn’t know about the red sun toxin, and my father fell under its influence and killed almost every one of us. Then he and another prime spent the next thirty years trying to bring me back.”

_ The body you wear now _ .

“They put you in another body,” Clarke said. “That’s what Simone meant. This isn’t your original body.”

Josie shook her head. “No. This is my seventh.”

_ Seven bodies _ . That was six people, killed to let her continue living. “How old are you, now?”

She shrugged. “Two centuries, give or take. I stopped counting a while ago.”

Clarke was silent for a moment. “How can you be okay with this? You’re killing people!”

Josie hummed. “I know. But the people know what they’re getting into. They hand their lives over willingly. Us Primes, we’re like gods to them. It’s considered an honor to host a Prime.”

Clarke shook her head. “You’re killing them. Manipulating them into dying for you. How is that any better?”

Josie shrugged. “It isn’t. You might be glad to know, though, that the reason my parents want you is because we’re running out of hosts. If your people don’t have any more hosts, we’re dead. Does that make you happy?”

_ Hosts _ . “What do you mean, hosts?” Clarke asked. “Why do your parents want me?”

Josie huffed, spinning a strand of her hair. “It takes a lot for a body to completely adapt to a new consciousness. There are certain… qualifications that are needed.”

Josie’s eyes drifted down to Clarke’s bandaged hand, and suddenly it made sense.

“Nightblood,” she murmured. “It’s my nightblood.”

“If that’s what you call it.” Josie nodded. “I wanted to start a breeding program, make sure we’d always have a steady supply of hosts. My parents disagreed. Said it was immoral. As if what we’re already doing isn’t.”

“A breeding program? You wanted to breed your people like cattle?” Clarke’s face twisted darkly. “That’s… that’s sick!”

The Prime only grinned. “I know. I’ve never been one to care much for other people’s feelings. Oh, but you, you’re too pretty to throw away like that.” Josie reached out, pressing forward when Clarke shied away. Clarke felt a hand slip into her hair, scratching at her scalp. Her eyes fluttered, a sigh escaping her lips despite herself. Josie chuckled. “I’ll keep you safe, babygirl, don’t you worry.”

Josie rested her other hand on Clarke’s cheek, thumb stroking over her lip. Clarke couldn’t find it in herself to pull away. She felt breath warm her cheek, lips skimming over her cheekbone. “That’s it, baby, just relax. I’ve got you.”

Unable to help herself, Clarke let her mind blank out in Josie’s comforting hold.

It couldn’t hurt.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

“Josie- why did you tell me? Why would you trust me with that?”

The two girls were tangled together on Clarke’s bed, the younger curled happily into Josie’s side. Both were still clothed, nothing nearly as exciting as the night before having occurred. Josie had fucked her slow, adoringly, giving her the absolute attention that she craved. Clarke still felt fuzzy, her body heavy with content.

The Prime sighed. “Because I know you, Clarke. I know how far you’ll go to protect your people. If you thought they were in danger- you would burn this place to the ground. We both know you would.”

“You could have lied.”

“You’re too smart for that.” Josie’s hand rubbed up and down Clarke’s arm, the latter purring in agreement. “Besides, you wouldn’t risk your people’s safety because of something like this. I saw no reason to lie.”

Clarke sighed. “Good. I’m glad.”

Josie hummed, scratching at Clarke’s shoulder. They lay silently for a few moments. “Do you think your parents will try to take me?”

“I’m not sure,” Josie said. “They have never taken anyone without consent before. They have never been so desperate as to try. But I give you my word, if they dare to try, I will do everything to keep you safe. You do not deserve to be taken by any of the primes. None of them are worthy of you.”

“What about you?”

“Sweetheart, I would never dare take you.” Josie stretched over to press a kiss to Clarke’s forehead. “You are worth more to me than that.”

“Why?” Clarke muttered, eyes bleary. “Why do you care so much for me? You have barely known me.”

“Honestly? Because I was bored.” Josie chuckled at Clarke’s confused look. “I’ve lived here for centuries, and the people are always the same. Complicit. Praising my holiness. Never looking me in the eye, never giving me anything but their complete servitude. You were different. Are different. All of your people are, really, but the rest are so bitter, so hateful. Not you.”

Clarke sighed. “I’m the reason they’re so hateful. So guarded. That’s my fault.”

“It’s their fault for holding onto that hatred for so long. You,” Josie tapped her nose, Clarke pushing her face into the sheets to smother her giggles. “Need to stop being so hard on yourself.”

Clarke shifted to flop halfway on top of Josie, nose tucking into her neck. “Mmm. I’ll try.”

Josie nodded against her cheek. “That’s all I ask, baby.”

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

Clarke was surprised to wake up and see that Josie was still there.

She tilted her head up to nuzzle into Josie’s jaw, placing a kiss right below. The older girl reluctantly stirred, arm tightening around Clarke’s waist. “Ugh. What time is it?”

“Late morning,” Clarke rasped, voice hoarse with sleep. “The rest of my people are probably awake.”

“And?” Josie ducked down to peck Clarke’s lips. “Why should I care?”

“I didn’t think we wanted this to be a well-known thing.”

“I could care less about who knows,” Josie murmured against her lips. “Would you rather them not know?”

Clarke sighed. “They cornered me about it last night. Thought I might be making some deal with you that they didn’t know about. They won’t like this.”

“Well screw their opinions, they aren’t the ones taking care of you.”

Clarke hummed. “And you are?”

“Am I not?”

Clarke only kissed her again.

They eventually rolled out of bed, and Josie helped Clarke change out of her nightdress. The older girl didn’t bother changing, though she did snag one of Clarke’s leather jackets, and she noted Clarke biting her lip as she glanced over. Leather jackets weren’t her style, though if Clarke was going to look at her like that, she might have to wear them more often.

The younger girl had been hoping they wouldn’t garner much attention, going down into the pub, but Primes tended to draw a lot of attention, and Josie didn’t even try to act inconspicuous. Clarke felt eyes burning into her, could hear the mutterings of the sanctumites around them, knew there would be rumors. There always were. Especially when, at the door, Josie turned around to peck Clarke on the lips.

“See you tonight?” She muttered, a smirk playing on her lips. Clarke nodded, uncomfortable under the heat of people’s eyes. Josie grinned, giving her one last kiss on the cheek before leaving. The younger girl stood dazed in the doorway for a few moments before glancing back into the pub, and the first thing that caught her eye was Bellamy. He sat still with the rest of the earthkru, eyes locked on her, face shining with something like disgust. Not at her, she was sure of that, but at who she chose. 

Who was he to judge her?

If he wanted her, he would have to come and get her.

Clarke held his gaze for a moment longer before tearing away. She didn’t need to deal with his jealousy right now.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

Clarke spent the day exploring Sanctum.

Despite being here for days now, she hadn’t yet seen the city in its entirety. The entire structure was beautiful, the most colorful place she’d ever seen. The people were kind, and the entire city was run off of generosity. There was no money, no payments, if you lived in Sanctum you were provided for. The vendors would give free meals to people, and there was a small market set up in one of the sectors, where they would let you have anything you pleased, as long as it wasn’t too much. At one point, she’d even seen a group of sanctumites tending to a sapling garden, and when they saw her looking had ushered her over and happily displayed their work.

All in all, a perfect place to live.

If you didn’t count the religion.

If you could even call it that.

Clarke wandered the city all day, not once crossing paths with anyone she knew, and she couldn’t be more thankful for it. She didn’t want them to ruin her day. She was enjoying herself. Something she’d been doing a lot more of since they’d entered Sanctum. And god, Clarke wished they could stay here forever. 

Maybe they could.

_ She knew they couldn’t _ .

It wasn’t until she was about to enter the pub that she heard someone calling her name.

“Clarke!” The doctor strode over to her, dipping his head politely. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Cillian,” she said, surprised to see him. “Do you need something?”

“Russell Prime has asked me to make sure you were healing well,” he said. “Just a quick checkup. Would you mind?”

Clarke was still wary of Russell. She’d heard his intentions, and wanted nothing more to do with him. But as much as she hated to admit it, she had been neglecting her injury, and even if she hadn’t, she hadn’t the tools to treat it. So, reluctantly, she agreed.

Cillian led her to a building beside the castle, different from the bay she’d been taken to before. Her guard instantly went up. “I thought you were taking me to the med bay?”

Cillian waved her off. “No need. Unless the wound is inflamed, which it shouldn’t be, I have all the necessary equipment in my own quarters. We needn’t bother the other medics.”

Clarke eyed him warily, her hand instinctively going to her hip before cursing as she remembered her knife was still in her room. Cillian glanced back at her and she followed after him, preparing herself to deck him if need be. She packed quite a punch.

Cillian’s quarters were bigger than her own, with a desk that had medical supplies scattered atop it. Bandages, gauzes, pastes that were unfamiliar to her, probably specific to the flora of Sanctum. Cillian sorted through it, while Clarke continued to evaluate his room.

That’s when she saw the faces.

There was only one visible, the corner of the page sticking out of a sketchbook, but it was a familiar face. Jordan’s face. And pulling the page completely out, it had the faces of all of earthkru, including her own.

Hers was circled with bright red.

“I didn’t take you for a nosy person, Clarke,” Cillian said behind her. “It isn’t nice to take what isn’t yours.”

Clarke wasn’t taking his shit. “It isn’t nice to stalk people.”

The man chuckled. “That’s not what it is. I just wanted some new faces to draw, is all.”

Clarke set the paper down and turned to look up at him, face locked in a scowl. “I don’t think that’s all this is.”

The doctor smirked. “Smart girl.”

And then his hand whipped toward her and she felt a sting in her neck.

Clarke jerked away from him, lunging towards the open window, but her legs crumpled underneath her, sending her sprawling onto the floor. She reached a hand out to claw at the windowsill, but that too quickly went limp, and suddenly she could no longer move.

“The paralytic works amazingly fast, don’t you think?” Cillian said above her. Clarke couldn’t see him from her position, but she felt his hands on her arm, rolling her over and scooping her up. “It’ll be effective for the next few hours. More than enough time to get you to Gabriel.”

Clarke’s racing thoughts slammed to a stop.  _ Gabriel _ ? She’d never heard that name before. Did he work for Russell? Was he another one of the primes? Or was he someone else entirely?

Whoever it was, she didn’t need to worry about being taken to him, because immediately after the door was kicked in. Sanctum guards stormed into the room, guns trained on Cillian. “Put the girl down!”

Cillian growled, tossing Clarke’s limp body onto the bed and drawing a knife out of his waistband. “Your primes are liars!” He hissed. “Why do you let them manipulate you?”

“Chain his hands,” a guard said. “Take him to Russell Prime.”

Cillian jumped backwards away from the guard’s hand, pulling the knife up to his throat. “Death to Primes.”

And then it was his motionless body collapsing to the floor.

Clarke watched what she could with wide eyes. The guards muttered something to each other, and one moved over to pick up Clarke. They said nothing to her, but brought her out from the structure by the back door.

Clarke’s eyes met with hazel brown ones and she felt a rush of relief.

“Thank god,” Josie breathed, rushing over to her. “What happened? Tell me on the way!”

“The Doctor was one of the traitors,” the guard not carrying her said, falling into step behind Josie as the girl led them into the palace through a side door. “He paralyzed the girl and was no doubt going to take her to Gabriel.”

“What happened to him?”

“Slit his own throat.”

Josie snapped her teeth together. “These self-sacrificing lunatics don’t know what’s good for them.”

Clarke desperately wanted to say something, to know what the hell was happening, but her brain wouldn’t respond. All she could do was flick her eyes around to have some sort of idea as to where they were going. They’d gone up the stairs, and Clarke had a guess as to where she was being taken.

Josie had Clarke brought into her chambers and laid on the bed, before she shooed the guards out, telling them to keep quiet about the situation at all costs. As soon as the doors were shut Josie was kneeling next to her on the bed, hands pushing Clarke’s hair behind her ears.

“God, I’m sorry, baby,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to Clarke’s forehead. “I should have gotten there sooner. I went to find you and you weren’t there and your people said that Cillian had been asking for you so I came here as soon as I could.”

_ Not your fault _ , she longed to say,  _ you didn’t know _ . But she could say nothing. Only watch Josie with glistening eyes.

“There’s an anti-paralytic,” she said, “but I’d have to go get it, and I don’t want to leave you here alone. If my father would catch word of this-”

_ He’d be here in a second _ . Clarke knew that. If Russell knew how vulnerable she was, how exposed she was, he would come for her. And that terrified her. She didn’t want to die. Not when she’d just found what might become her new happiness. And definitely not like this.

At least it would be painless.

She didn’t even realize she was crying until Josie brushed her tears with her fingers. “Don’t cry, sweet girl,” she muttered. “I wish I knew what you were thinking.”

_ Don’t let me die don’t let me die please Josie don’t let me die. _

Clarke was being chased by the leaders of the city, and now targeted by this Gabriel and his people, she was hated by her own, god, what had her life come to? The only person she really had was this girl she’d met days ago. How sad was that? 

Josie pressed a kiss to each tear that fell from her eyes, only making her cry more. Her vision was blurry with water, but she didn’t need to see, she could feel Josie hovering close above her, thighs pressed to Clarke’s side. She squeezed her eyes shut and let the emotions come.

“I’m not leaving you,” Josie muttered, lips brushing her cheek. “I’ll stay here with you until the paralytic wears off. Longer, if you want. I’m not going to let them hurt you again.”

“I’m afraid that decision is out of your hands.”

Clarke’s eyes flew open, and she watched Josie jerk up, face contorting into something between rage and fear. Clarke knew why. She knew that voice. She knew who was here. 

Josie pulled Clarke’s body up to her chest, clutching her body so hard it hurt. “I’m not letting you have her!” She spat, “will you really go so low? Will you really force her? Murder her? Will you?”

“If that is what it takes.”

Clarke felt a scream bubble up in her throat, but she could do nothing, only feel Josie be ripped away from her, feel her body being lifted again, but this time the face was familiar. Russell looked down at her with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Clarke. I really am. But you understand what leaders must do for their people. You understand.”

_ This is selfish!  _ She wanted to shout.  _ This is not for your people! You’re lying to them! _

But she could not.

Josie was yelling somewhere off to the side, spitting the most horrible things she could think of at her father. “Leave her alone!” She cried. “You’re turning into a monster, stop this! Don’t let yourself become a murderer!”

“You cannot stop this, Josie,” Russell said sternly. “The decision’s been made.”

“Dad, you know what her people will do! If not for me, do it for your own sake! You know they will tear this city down if they find out! They will kill us all like they did their own planet! Are you going to risk it?”

Russell didn’t even glance her way, already moving toward the door. “We outnumber them by far. If they try to retaliate, we will crush it. Besides,” he paused, “having seen how they treat their ‘leader,’ they might not even care.”

Clarke couldn’t stop the tears dripping down her face.

Josie had fallen silent at that, but as soon as Russell brought Clarke outside the doors she heard the protests start again, could hear Josie crying her name. But Clarke could do nothing. She was helpless and she hated it. God, she hated it so much. They were about to kill her and she could do  _ nothing _ .

“I’m sorry, Clarke, I really am.” Russell sounded far more sincere than he was. “But you are giving your life so another can live. It will be painless. You will feel nothing. There is no need to worry.”

_ I don’t want to die _ .

The room Russell brought her into was unfamiliar, and from her vantage Clarke couldn’t see much of it, but as Russell brought her to the center table, Clarke could see skeletons hovering above her, the skulls leering down. She shuddered, Russell putting her down on the cold metal. She hadn’t noticed before, but as her head lolled to the side she could see Simone taking steps toward them.

The woman seemed… concerned. “Russell. What is this?”

“You agreed that we needed her,” Russell said, taking her hand. “It was the perfect opportunity. How could I not?”

“It is too soon!” Simone looked at Clarke on the table, and Clarke could see that none of her concern was for her. “Her people will notice. Josephine is not prepared-”

“Josephine will have to deal with it,” Russell said. “She has had this girl for little more than a few days, she will get over it soon enough.”

Simone frowned, eyes flickering back and forth between her husband and the paralyzed woman. “Fine. But you will be dealing with Josephine.” The older woman stepped out of sight, and Russell was hovering over her again.

“Oh, don’t cry,” he muttered, wiping one of her tears off her cheek. Clarke wanted to jerk away, to smack his hand away, hell, she’d even take biting at his fingers if that was all she could do, but she could do nothing. Only lay in silence. And watch.

Russell took something from the side, and Clarke’s eyes widened at the sight of a needle, with some kind of dark, slightly transparent liquid filling it. She felt it prick against her neck, and she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling more fear that she could ever remember feeling.

Clarke’s thoughts started to drift, falling away, and she could feel her body sinking down, slowing down. The world became sluggish, and suddenly opening her eyes back up was impossible. Everything felt dreamlike. She was afraid. Why was she afraid? She couldn’t remember. 

Exhaustion pulled at her, urging her to surrender to the inky blackness of sleep, but no, she didn’t want to. Something in her didn’t want to. But god, she was so  _ tired _ . So, so tired. But she held on until it was impossible to resist any longer.

Her mind went blank until every spark of life inside her flickered out.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

Clarke was gone.

Bellamy paced the floor of the pub, listening to the rest of earthkru bicker among themselves. “Bellamy, man, sit down,” Murphy said, slouched back into a chair. “Pacing isn’t going to help.”

Bellamy ground his teeth together, falling into one of the chairs. Echo patted his arm. “We’ll find her, Bellamy. I’m sure she’s fine. This is Clarke we’re talking about.”

Raven waved them all off. “Probably running around with that Prime again. Maybe they invited princess to live in the castle with them.”

“Her stuff is all still here, that didn’t happen,” Murphy drawled, taking a swig of the drink in front of him. “But yeah, Clarke’s been gone for almost two whole days now. If nobody has seen her by tomorrow, I say we worry.”

“What if she needs our help?”

“Bellamy, it’s  _ Clarke _ ,” Murphy said. “She’s a damn cockroach. Clarke can take care of herself for a few days. Besides, I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to deal with us. You’ve all been assholes to her. Even you, Bellamy.”

“And what about you, Murphy?” Bellamy snapped. “You aren’t blame-free either!”

“Nah, I know, but at least I wasn’t the one accusing her of making deals behind our backs,” he said with a pointed glare at Raven, who scoffed. “We all could have done better. Can do better.”

“You really want to forgive her?” Raven growled. “You remember what she’s done, don’t you? You’re just going to forgive that?”

“Raven, we both know I’m not a very forgiving person, of course not,” Murphy responded. “But pushing her away isn’t going to help anyone.”

“Clarke’s still family,” Bellamy said. “Family doesn’t abandon family.”

“She had Madi, doesn’t she?” Raven shook her head. “I’m not just going to forget about what she did.”

“We’re not asking you to forget, we’re asking you to at least talk to her. Give her a chance to earn forgiveness.” Bellamy leaned across the table to Raven. “None of us are blameless, Raven. She was just doing what she thought was best. We all were.”

Raven glowered at him. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

_ Good enough _ .

“Speaking of the gremlin,” Murphy interrupted. “Where is Madi?”

“I’ve been helping her with the Flame every day for a while,” Gaia spoke up. “I also know she’s been spending a lot of time with the children here. And with Abby. I don’t think she’s seen Clarke in a while.”

“Clarke wouldn’t just leave Madi,” Emori said. “That isn’t like her.”

“We give her until morning to show up,” Bellamy said. “Then we start looking. Deal?”

Head nods all around. Murphy took another swig of his drink. “Deal.”

“Alright. Get some rest, everyone. We should start taking a look around tomorrow, see what we can do.” Bellamy smiled at them as everyone murmured their assent. Instead of following his own advice, he wandered over to the window, looking out on the colorful fields surrounding Sanctum.

_ Where are you, Clarke? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I know Clarke and Josie's weird obsession with each other seems super sudden and weird but just go with it okay. also it probably makes josie quite a bit ooc but that's how this fic is gonna work sorry
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!! ♥


	3. ─ ❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 ❞ ─

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You aren’t her!” Josie snarled, trying to lunge forward again. “You don’t deserve her! Get out of her! _Get out!_ "
> 
> Faye scrambled backwards, trying to regain her posture. “Josephine, what-”
> 
> “ _You aren’t her!_ ” Tears fell down her cheeks as Josie fought. “You took her from me! Give her back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so
> 
> this took a while for me to get out
> 
> ive actually had it finished for- weeks now, i think, but i didnt post it bc i had _plans_ to edit it, but i gave up on those. because i never edit anything
> 
> this is like super bad but i dont feel like putting in the effort to make it better
> 
> so
> 
> sorry :/
> 
> this is also the shortest chapter so far at about 5k words whoops

_ “Never take life for granted. Savor every sunrise, because no one is promised tomorrow…or even the rest of today."  
  
_ _ ― Eleanor Brownn _

The first day after Russell took Clarke away, Josie hid in her room and refused to come out.

It hadn’t fully registered that Clarke was gone until Russell had ordered her to come and sit through a discussion with the earth people, and she’d seen the rest of the Primes. Clarke hadn’t been there, of course she wasn’t, her father couldn’t have her present while the earth people were in the room, but looking at the line of Primes, all she could think of was  _ Clarke _ . How she’d become just another unknown body to be taken. How Russell had made her into  _ nothing _ .

Josie fled in the middle of the meeting, ignoring the calls of her parents to come back. She didn’t care what impression she was making. She couldn’t bear to be there any longer.

So she hid.

She was being petty, she knew, and not doing Clarke any good, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t go out there and see someone else walking around in Clarke’s body. Couldn’t go and see some unworthy  _ peasant  _ staking claim to it. Nobody was worthy of taking who Clarke had once been.  _ None of them _ .

Josie finally left her room the day after, but avoided everyone. If she saw any of her fellow Primes, she ducked away. She didn’t know if any of the others knew, about her and Clarke or about what Russel had done, but she didn’t want to find out. Didn’t want to deal with any of it.

She couldn’t escape forever though.

“Josephine Prime?”

She exhaled a frustrated breath, turning to face the guard. “Yes?”

“Your father has sent me, my lady. Said to inform you that he expects your presence at dinner this evening.”

_ Of course he did. _ Josie snapped her teeth together. “Fine. I hear your message. Go.”

The guard scampered off, obviously put off by her pissed attitude. She didn’t care. Her father was going to murder the woman she had  _ begged  _ him to keep alive, if anyone not her, and then just expects her to return to normal? Act like nothing happened? Did he expect her to look her once lover in the eye and pretend everything was fine?

_ Fuck that _ .

She was not going to be some compliant little girl for him.

Russell still thought he could control her. Still thought she was some oblivious child that needed his guidance. No more. Hell, she almost hoped this backfired on him. She wanted him to see it blow up in his face. Maybe show him that he can’t do whatever he wants. Can’t murder a girl without repurcussions. Russell had become deaf to the immorality of murder, after all these years. And in a way, so had she. 

But this was worse. Far worse. He had no idea what he was getting into.

Josie fled back into her room until dinner, using her canvas to get out her frustrations. She normally painted herself. This time she painted Clarke. The sun-bright hair, ice-warm eyes, Pale, scarred skin. She painted with thick strokes, sharp lines, heavy colors, attempting to show the knife-edge personality Clarke always gave off. Josie knew she was warmer beneath, warm with a hidden affection, hidden emotions, emotions she painted into the eyes.

But time passed on as always. And she knew she couldn’t ignore the summons.

Stepping into the dining hall, she felt her throat close up. They were just sitting there like nothing was wrong. Like someone hadn’t just been murdered. God, how had she stayed unaware of the cruelty for this long? They were murderers.  _ She  _ was a murderer. Clarke had made her realize that.

Clarke- or whoever had been placed in her body, Josie still wasn’t yet sure- was nowhere to be seen, but she knew it was coming. They would hide her from her people, but not from the rest of the Primes. No, the Primes wouldn’t care. They’d be happy another one of them had returned. They wouldn’t care whose body was being puppeted. 

Did they know yet? Did they know the missing girl was now being inhabited by one of their own?

They must. They’d been emotionless at the meeting with the earth people yesterday. Emotionless as Bellamy told Russell that Clarke had gone missing, a hint of accusation in his tone. Russell, for his part, was a wonderful actor, playing surprise like he didn’t  _ know _ . Telling Bellamy he’d have his guards stay on alert, would even lend them a few to aid in a search party if they wished to gather one. If anything else had been said, she didn’t know. That was when she left.

Josephine pulled her chair out, about to take her place beside Russell, when the door groaned open again, and voices flowed into the room. She froze. She’d recognize that voice anywhere.

Across from her, Simone glared at her.  _ Don’t you dare _ , her expression said.  _ Don’t you dare _ .

Josie shut her eyes, trying to control her breathing, but her entire body was vibrating with  _ Clarke Clarke Clarke.  _ She could hear her voice, feel her presence in the room, and everything in her longed to go to her. But it wasn’t her.  _ It wasn’t her _ .

“Faye,” Russell said from her side as Josie heard footsteps approaching her. “You probably shouldn’t-”

Before she even knew what she was doing, Josie’s eyes snapped open and she lunged.

The other Primes cried out as Josephine dragged them both to the floor. Clarke’s eyes looked up at her, fearful and afraid, and it was Clarke, but it  _ wasn’t _ . There were small differences, the way her eyes didn’t shine with passion, the way her face was smooth and not buried under constant stress. And the fear. Fear was an emotion Josie had never seen on Clarke’s face, and never could imagine seeing at all.

Hands grabbed at her, pulling her off, while Daniel and Kaylee helped Faye off the ground. “You aren’t her!” Josie snarled, trying to lunge forward again. “You don’t deserve her! Get out of her!  _ Get out! _ ”

Faye scrambled backwards, trying to regain her posture. “Josephine, what-”

“ _ You aren’t her! _ ” Tears fell down her cheeks as Josie fought. “You took her from me! Give her back!”

“Josephine!” Russell stepped in front of her, blocking Faye from her vision. “Stop this! You are being a child!”

Josie bared her teeth. “Better a child than a  _ murderer _ . She wasn’t even willing!” Her sight was blurry with tears now. “Do you not even care? I  _ begged  _ you to keep her alive, I’d finally found someone who could make me happy, and you  _ took her! _ ”

“You’d barely known her for more than a few days,” Russell insisted. “No such bond can form that quickly. You will recover.”

“You don’t,” Josie whispered, quiet. “You don’t care. You don’t care about anyone but yourself, not even about your daughter. You’re horrible. You’re all horrible!” Josie ripped herself free of the other Primes’ grips, bolting to the door, fleeing for the second time in two days. 

Josie didn’t know what she was going to do. All she knew was that she couldn’t let Faye or anyone else tarnish Clarke any longer.

She had to do something.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

Josie goes to the only people she can think of who would help her.

Or, well, she tries to.

The moment she opens the side door there are guns pointed at her chest.

Josie wheels backward, holding her hands up. The guards lower their weapons, bowing their heads. “Prime Josephine! Our apologies. We didn’t know it was you.”

She waved it off. “No worries, guardsman. If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”

The guards exchanged looks but didn’t move from the doorway. “Prime Russell has given orders that all Primes are to remain in the palace.”

Because  _ of course _ he had.

“Well Prime Russell isn’t here right now, is he?” Josie sneered, stepping forward. “Now let me through.”

The guard paled. “I-I’m sorry, my lady, I cannot.”

_ Fuck this _ .

In one swift move, Josie lunged forward and wrenched the gun out of the hands of one of the guards. The other jerked his weapon up, looking terrified. Josie pressed the barrel to the weaponless guards head. “On your knees.”

He dropped to the floor, hands in the air. Jerking her chin at the other guard, they too dropped to their knees, putting the gun on the ground.  _ Well, that could be useful _ .

She hopped over and picked up the second gun. “Appreciate it, boys,” she sang, making her way down the steps. “Might not want to tell Russell you failed. He might not like that.”

They didn’t follow after her. She took that as a win. Tucking the guns into a crevice, she moved along.

Minutes later, Josie was hovering in front of the pub, preparing herself. This could either go very well or very horribly. She hoped they would agree to help her save what was left of Clarke, and not decide to kill her on the spot and then burn down the rest of her city.

Because they could do that. She knew they could.

Steeling her nerves, Josie pushed open the door to the pub.

She immediately felt the glaring eyes of the earth people. They’d known she and Clarke had… something. She wasn’t sure if they knew how serious it was, though. Probably just thought Josie was looking for a good fuck. They couldn’t know just how in-depth the connection ran. They couldn’t understand.

They sat in their usual booth in the back corner, almost all of them watching her. Bellamy, Murphy, Raven, even the kid was there, who Josephine knew was Clarke’s. She made her way back to them, the pub mostly full, unsurprising considering she’d just come from dinner herself. 

She sat herself down at the head of the table, meeting each of their gazes. “Hello.”

Raven narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

Josie lowered herself down to her elbows. “I want the same thing you do. To help Clarke.”

Bellamy jerked up, pushing his chair back. “You know where she is? Where is she? Did you take her?”

“I… I do.” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, knowing they wouldn’t react well. “I’m afraid you might not like the way you find her though.”

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Bellamy growled, face full of rage. Josie just averted her eyes, feeling her throat start to close up. She hadn’t had the time to mourn yet. Hell, she’d been holding onto the hope that it wasn’t real until she saw Faye just a little bit ago. Why did it have to hit her  _ now?  _

“I- she’s-” Josie choked on a sob, cursing herself for breaking down here. At least they were more or less in the background. “My father took her. He- he did something to her. Something bad.” Tears rolled down her cheeks now, her breath coming in pants. “I tried to stop him. I did. I couldn’t do anything though. He wouldn’t listen.”

There was silence around the table, the only sounds being Josie’s ragged breath. Murphy leaned forward closer to her. “So she’s…”

Josie nodded, squeezing her eyes shut as she forced the words out of her throat. “She’s dead.”

“No. No. Like hell she is.” Bellamy was pacing now. “You’re lying. She isn’t dead. She can’t be.”

Echo stood up as well, reaching out to grip his arm. “Bellamy-”

“She can’t be dead!” A tear fell from his eye. “It’s  _ Clarke _ . Clarke doesn’t die.”

Josephine laughed. A watery, strangled sound that tore at her throat. “She didn’t have a choice.” Josie lowered her head, looking down at the table. “Cillian- the doctor- he wasn’t who he said he was. He infiltrated Sanctum to try and take the nightbloods. When he figured out Clarke was one- he tricked her. Hit her with a paralytic. I got to her before he could take her, but my father got to me before I could save her.” She wiped at her cheeks, chest feeling like it was about to cave in. “She died paralyzed, unable to fight back. Completely at the mercy of my father.”

“Clarke’s dead?”

Madi sat quietly at the end of the table with Gaia, her face vulnerable and broken. “She’s really dead?”

Josie nodded, swallowing a cry. “I’m so sorry.”

Madi’s eyes fell down, her face contorting as she tried to stop herself from crying. Gaia laid a hand on her back, rubbing circles. “Do you want to go upstairs?”

Madi completely ignored her, her attempt to keep away her tears failing and they streamed down her face. “I barely even talked to her. I- I was too focused on the kids, and the school, and-” she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. “I was so focused on myself, I didn’t- I didn’t even know.”

“Hey, hey, it’s not your fault.” Gaia gently took her arm, pulling them both up. “She wanted you to enjoy yourself. You can’t blame yourself for doing that.”

Madi buried herself into Gaia, holding onto her waist tightly as she cried into the woman’s shirt. Gaia just nodded to the rest of them, looking warily at Josie, and pulled Madi away, taking her to the quarters above the pub.

They watched her go. Josie felt her heart break a little bit more at the child’s pain. She knew what it felt like. She’d seen her father kill her own mother, and the amount of agony she had known in that one moment before her own death was something she’d never forget.

“Oh, god, Abby…” Jackson sagged back into his chair, Miller putting a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be crushed.”

“So when the doctor said he was looking for her-” Murphy slammed his hand down onto the table. “That was two days ago! It’s been two  _ days?”  _ She nodded. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? She’s one of us! We deserved to know!”

“Did you really?” Josie stood up, leaning over Murphy. “You ignored her the entire time you’ve been here. You’ve threatened her and accused her of things she’d never do, you excluded her, is that any way to show that you care?”

“Do you even know what she’s done?” Raven hissed. “She deserved that! Our mistrust was not misplaced! You couldn’t expect us to just forgive every bad thing she’s ever done!”

“Yeah, and now we’ll never be able to forgive her!” Murphy snapped. “We treated her like shit and now she’s  _ dead!  _ She died thinking we hated her!”

“She died thinking she wasn’t one of us,” Emori murmured. There was silence. A quiet vigil, almost. Before Josie spoke up again, having dried her tears, pulled back her emotions for another time.

“Maybe now you can start making amends.”

All eyes turned to her. 

No turning back now.

“What happened to Clarke… is a secret that has been kept from the people of Sanctum for decades. For as long as we’ve lived here. It’s a complicated situation.” Josie swallowed nervously. They reacted better than she thought to the news about Clarke, but this? She didn’t know. “Because technically, while Clarke’s consciousness is dead, her body is still alive. Still working. Just- just not for her.”

Josie was struggling to just spit it out, to say it as it was. But she knew she had to. “The Primes aren’t who we say we are,” she finally said. “I was a part of the first expedition to Alpha. My own father killed me under the influence of the eclipse.”

She knew she should say more, but she’d already said almost more than she could handle. She saw the moment it clicked in their minds. Raven, ever the genius, was the first to put it all together. “Her body is still alive…” she murmured, eyes widening. “Body snatching. That’s how you’re still alive!”

Josie nodded.

“Wait- but- Delilah-” Jordan looked at her with possibly the most distressed expression she’d ever seen. “That means she’s-”

Josie lowered her gaze. That was enough of a tell.

Bellamy’s rumbling voice broke the silence. “Who took her?” He growled, eyes dark. “Who did your father decide was more worthy of living than  _ her _ ?”

“Her name is Faye.” Josie sighed. “She’s the mother of Kaylee and Daniel, a wise experienced woman, though quite obedient. She’s content to stay under my father’s command for as long as need be.” Her lip curled. “She’s not worthy.”

Echo scoffed. “And who is worthy? You?”

“No!” Josie cried. “I want her back as much as you do! Why do you think I would be telling you this if I didn’t?”

“So do you have a plan, then?” Emori asked. “Is there a reason you came to tell us?”

_ Finally _ . “There is.” She sat back down in the chair, relaxing as much as possible. “While there’s no way to get the host's consciousness… back, there is a way to remove the conscious of the Prime. But first, we have to get her out of Sanctum. And I need your help to do that.”

She waited to see if they would agree. They would. They had to.

“Oh, what the hell?” Murphy gave her a sharp nod. “I’m with you.”

“So am I,” Emori added. “I was never particularly close to Clarke, but I never hated her. She’s still one of us.”

“Wait, so you’re just going to trust her? No catch?” Echo looked at her warily. “I still don’t trust her. Why would she choose Clarke over one of her own?”

Josie sighed. “I don’t exactly  _ like  _ the other Primes very much. Some of them want me dead. Some of them I’ve barely ever talked to even after centuries of living in the same palace. My parents care more about themselves than the people. My best friend is the one who murdered my last host. My once lover fled Sanctum because he didn’t believe in our ways. Not exactly much going for them.”

Murphy snorted. “What a dynamic.”

“I’ll help you.” Raven said. “I still haven’t forgiven her. But I don’t want her to be used like this.”

One by one, they all agreed. Until it was only Bellamy.

“I still don’t trust you,” he spoke. “Why do this for Clarke? There’s no way you’re willing to risk yourself for an intruder. I know you know what we’ve done. Your parents don’t trust us because of that. Why should you?”

Josie shrugged. “I don’t give a shit if you’ve killed people. So have we. So have I. But Clarke regretted what she’d done. I know that. And she deserved a chance to leave that behind. I tried to give that to her.” Josie shook her head. “Clarke is-  _ was _ \- special. She was something else.”

“Bellamy, come on,” Murphy said. “What’s the worst that could happen? Don’t you want to do this? For Clarke?”  
Bellamy eyed Josephine for a moment longer, before nodding. “For Clarke.”

Josie sighed. “Thank you. For trusting me.”

“Never said I trusted you. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” Bellamy sat back down, and everyone relaxed. “So what’s the plan?”

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

“This is stupid,” Murphy muttered as he followed Josephine. “Have I mentioned this is stupid? Stupid and dangerous?”

“Do you have a better idea?” Josie nodded to the side door she’d exited the palace from. “I already dealt with the guards coming out to find you. It looks like they still haven’t been replaced. I’ll get Faye to come out, you’ll deal with the guards, and we take her. Got it?”

“Stupid, stupid,” Murphy muttered. “Fine. Fine. But if this goes wrong, we had nothing to do with it. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Josie looked back at him and the other Earthkru who had followed. Bellamy hadn’t stopped glaring at her, but so far he hadn’t done anything. Yet. Echo had a steely expression on her face, spinning a dagger between her fingers. Miller was hovering silently, had barely said a word the entire time.

“Oh! And  _ also _ -” Josie hopped over to the back of the building they were tucked behind, reaching into the shadows. “Perhaps these will be helpful?”

The metal has a menacing gleam in the moonlight, but Murphy jumped up. “You have  _ guns _ ?”

“Borrowed them from the guards.” She shrugged. “They hopefully won’t tell. I may or may not have threatened their wellbeing.”

“What happens if the others can’t get to the shield on time?” Echo interrupted, glancing behind them at the pub. “If Jordan, Jackson, and Gaia can’t get Madi and Abby to leave Sanctum? If Raven and Emori can’t get the information they need?”

“They’ll have to.” Josie met her gaze. “It was you all who insisted on this. You say you want to prepare your own base once you get out of here? You’re going to need that radiation shield if you want to survive. Ryker will help them. He wouldn’t dare rat me out.”

“How can you be so sure?”  
Josie snorted. “Blackmail.”

Murphy rolled his eyes. “Not surprised.”

“Okay, yeah, now shut up. If we want to do this tonight, we have to do it  _ now _ . It’s almost midnight. I get Faye out, you take out the guards. Got it?”

Bellamy pursed his lips. Echo nodded. “Go. We’ll be waiting.”

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

As it turned out, getting Faye out of the palace would be harder said than done.

For one: she was already distrustful of Josie. By now she’d undoubtedly been informed of Josie’s affiliation with her host, and that plus her freak out earlier wasn’t going to help. Secondly, Josie wasn’t sure  _ she  _ could handle it. Hell, she’d attacked the woman the first time she saw her. Josie just had to restrain herself long enough to get Faye out of the palace. And self-restraint was not one of her strong suits.

Plus the fact that her father seemed to have suspected she would try something like this. There were guards posted at the doors to Faye’s quarters.

Josie muttered a curse. She couldn’t hover at the corner forever. Someone would see her. She had to go now. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have a plan to deal with the guards if they resisted. It would have to work.

_ Breathe in. _

_ Breathe out. _

_ Go. _

Striding around the corner like she knew exactly what she was doing, Josie approached the door. The guards stiffened, having obviously been warned of her. She acted like nothing was wrong. “I need to see Faye.”

“Lady Faye is resting,” one of the guards said. “She is not to be disturbed.”

“That’s too bad. I need to talk to her.”

“My lady, we cannot.”

Rolling her eyes, Josie pushed forward enough to rap her fist on the door before the guards could stop her. “Faye! We need to talk!”

The guards shoved her back, and she hissed. “I  _ will  _ see the Lady Faye.”

The doors opened behind the guards, just enough for Faye to fit herself in between. Josie’s thoughts trailed off as she was suddenly staring into Clarke’s ice-warm eyes. Faye didn’t seem to notice. “Lady Josephine. It is late.”

The dull tone with which she spoke shocked Josie back into herself. It wasn’t Clarke’s voice. It was, but it wasn’t. She focused on evening out her breaths, hoping it would help her gather herself. “I’m aware. But this is important.”

Faye gave her a side eye. “I’m afraid I don’t exactly trust your intent.”

“I understand.” Josie moved her hands behind her back to hide the nervous twitching. “I mean you no harm, Lady Faye. This isn’t even about the earlier… incident. I am here to talk about your daughter.”

That got her attention. “Kaylee? What about her?”

Josie glanced at the guards. “This is a conversation best held in private, Lady Faye.”

Sher grimaced. “If you think I am going to let you alone in a room with me, I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

Josie huffed. “This is not a topic I am going to discuss in front of others.”

“You are going to have to.”

“My god,  _ fine _ . But not here.” Still giving the guards distrustful looks, she said: “outside, then. Where they can remain close and not overhear.”

Faye hesitated. “What could possibly be so confidential that not even the guards can know?”

Josie stepped closer, leaning in. Being this close was doing things to her, making her heart scream, but she had to play the role.“Tell me, Lady Faye- do you know how I died in my last body? Because your daughter does.”

The implication was enough to make both Faye and the guards stiffen. Josie knew just how much trouble Kaylee could get into for having murdered another Prime. And Faye knew it, too. “Alright. We can talk outside.”

Josie had to resist the urge to grin.  _ Thank god _ . “Great! We can go out the side entrance. Guards, trail us and wait at the doors.”

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

The night outside was covered in shadows, masking half the city in darkness.

The guards hovered by the door as Josephine led Faye down the steps. The woman could barely wait, stopping them the moment they had some semblance of distance between them. “She didn’t.”

“She did.” Josie tried to avoid scanning the area, knowing she had to wait until they were ready. “I believe her exact words were that she was protecting Sanctum. By murdering her best friend. You can see why I’m concerned.”

“She- she wouldn’t. Not without good reason.” Faye shook her head. “What reason did she have?”

Something shifted in the shadows, and Josie tensed. “It doesn’t matter why she did it. Perhaps you can question her about it when you come back.”

Before she had even finished talking, Faye was being dragged backwards, a hand on her mouth. Echo appeared beside her, and glancing back, Josie saw that both guards here on the ground, Murphy and Miller plucking their weapons off their bodies. Faye thrashed against Bellamy, and he growled, gripping her tighter. “You got anything to gag her with?”

Josie blinked. Echo easily tore a piece of fabric off of her shirt, shoving it into Faye's mouth and tying it around her head. Like it was no big deal. Josie was torn between being concerned or impressed.

“Okay, great, now let’s go before they figure out we took her!” Murphy rushed, holding out a gun to Josie. She clutched it tightly, ushering the Earthkru after her and moving around the perimeter to the steps.

They reached the border at what had to be past midnight. Faye had stopped struggling, was by now walking in front of Bellamy without a fight. Murphy let out an audible sigh of relief when they saw that Raven and Emori were waiting for them. The two girls seemed to have prepared themselves for seeing Clarke bound, but their eyes still lingered.

“Where’s Gaia , Jackson, and Jordan?” Bellamy asked, looking around. “They’re supposed to be here with Madi and Abby by now.”

“We can’t wait that long for them,” Josie hissed. “The moment someone reports Faye as missing, my father will know who did it. He’ll come after us.”

“Won’t taking the shield down alert them as well?” Emori asked. 

“Yes, it will. Which is why once I lower the shield, we need to  _ go _ .” She glanced back. “The longer we wait, the less of an advantage we lose.”

“I’m not going to leave Jackson behind! Or any of them!” Miller argued. “We have to wait.”

“Jackson can take care of himself. They all can. We have to trust that they can handle it.” Echo nodded to the shield. “Right now, we need to worry about ourselves.”

Josie handed her gun off to Emori and hopped over to the control panel, flipping it open and quickly pushing in the code. “You ready?”

Bellamy pushed Faye right up to the border, nodding. The rest had their weapons at the ready. She pressed the last number and didn’t even wait for the shield to fully come down, darting through to the other side. She could feel the radiation crackle along her skin, making her insides buzz, but it was completely harmless to her.

“How far is your ship from the border?” Josie called, already hovering by the edge of the foliage. 

“A few miles? It’s still where I landed it. I can take you,” Raven said, and Josie let her move to the head. “Can we outrun them?”

“Maybe? We can’t outrun the bikes, that’s for sure.” Josie pursed her lips. “Just take us in the direction of your ship. If we need to, there are research stations scattered all around out here. I know where they all are. We could hide out in one of those if it comes down to it.”

“Okay, great, we have a plan, now let’s  _ move! _ ” Echo hissed. “Fast!”

Raven ducked into the trees, followed by Josie and the rest of Earthkru, along with a bound Faye.

They could make it.

They had to.

︵‿︵‿୨ ✼ ୧‿︵‿︵

God, she was so naive. 

Why hadn’t she seen this coming?

The first giveaway had been the silence. Deafening silence, only broken by the sounds of them moving through the foliage. Echo had been the first to notice, calling out for the group to stop.

“There’s something wrong,” she muttered, looking around warily. 

It hadn’t clicked at first.

But then Raven gasped, crumpling to the ground, and she realized.

“Goddammit!” Josie snarled as the Earthkru holstered their weapons. “I’m a fucking idiot!”

“You know what it is?” Emori asked, her gun pointing every which way.

Josie opened her mouth to answer, but a prick on the back of her neck made her trail off. Her body swayed for a moment before her legs gave out beneath her, still having barely enough control of herself to keep her head from slamming into the earth. 

Movement in the trees caught her eye, blurs of brown that wouldn’t even be noticeable if they weren’t moving.

The shouts of the Earthkru were muted now, a buzzing in the background. She could see some of them out of her peripherals, but she forgot all about it when a face appeared above her.

“Josephine Prime,” the woman said, sounding unimpressed. “We’ve been wanting to get our hands on you for a long, long time.”

She could say nothing. Only look up into the face of her enemy.”

The woman grinned. “I’m sure the Old Man will be  _ thrilled  _ to know about this.”

The Old Man.

_ Gabriel _ .

Could he be… 

A sharp pain on the side of her head made her lose her track, eyes rolling uselessly as darkness closed in on all sides.

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out on Tumblr at [LovelessDyke](https://lovelessdyke.tumblr.com) or check out my t100 insta account at [loveless.klark](https://instagram.com/loveless.klark)


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